Esther Wanjiru Mwikamba

For the past three weeks, assault victim Esther Wanjiru Mwikamba's mother, Hannah, had stayed by her daughter's bedside in the intensive care unit of Rashid Hospital to make sure that once Esther woke up from coma, mum would be there. But on Saturday, things took an unexpected turn when Hannah learned of her daughter's latest medical report.

"My mother had a minor stroke and high blood pressure when she received Esther's latest medical report which was not good at all," Lucy, Esther's sister, told Gulf News during a visit to the hospital.

"The doctors said they still have to observe my mother's condition. She will have to be confined for three to four days to keep her blood pressure under control," Lucy added.

Hannah, 45, said she has no history of hypertension or diabetes. She was at Esther's bedside when she began to feel unwell. She immediately called Lucy for help.

"Problem," Hannah told Gulf News, as she pointed to the machine that showed her blood pressure. She said her left cheek, left hand and leg were numb. But instead of talking about how she was feeling, she asked for more prayers for Esther.

Lucy said doctors had told them that there was nothing else they could do medically to bring Esther out of her coma. A medical report issued at the Mwikamba family's request stated that Esther's condition is "beyond any neurosurgical intervention on her arrival at the hospital, confirmed to be brain stem death."

But Hannah and Lucy's spirits would not be defeated.

"We are still hoping that she would wake up. We are hoping for another opinion from another doctor," Lucy said.

Asked how she was coping with two family members now confined to the hospital, she said: "It's very difficult. I go up and down, up and down [the hospital to check on both of them]."

Hannah arrived in Dubai from Kenya on March 2 to be by Esther's bedside. She joined Lucy who arrived days before to take turns in taking care of Esther.

Month-long wait

The month-long wait for Esther to emerge from her coma must have taken a toll on Hannah's health, a friend said.

"When she [Hannah] arrived in Dubai, she was not 100 per cent fit. With all this happening, she's bound to go through [a tough time herself]," Michael Ogolla, secretary of the Kenya Welfare Association which has supported the Mwikamba family from day one, said.

Hannah broke her right leg in a road accident ten years ago. She has since had difficulty walking. In a previous interview, she told Gulf News: "I had an accident before and I broke my leg. I have a metal in my leg, which is between the joint of my knee and in my ankle."

Hannah added that Esther was supposed to bring her to India this year so that doctors could remove the metal in her ankle.

But that will have to wait, as Esther, the sole earner of the family, is the main focus of the family at the moment.

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